In a significant step towards the
consolidation of peace, security and community stabilization in one
of Asia's oldest trouble-spots, the Japanese government yesterday
contributed one billion yen (US$8.6 million) to IOM's programmes

IOM's Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration (DDR) programme in Afghanistan has started to provide
direct agricultural help including seeds and fertilizers to more
than 500 former soldiers in the north of the country.

IOM and the Vietnam Women's Union have set
up a telephone hotline covering Kien Giang and three other border
provinces to warn potential labour migrants about human trafficking
along the Cambodian border.

To continue compiling reliable data on
migration trends in Mesoamerica, IOM's Regional Office in San
José has received financial support from the Mexican
government through its National Migration Institute.

IOM, the Inter American Development Bank
and the offices of the First Ladies of Bolivia, Colombia, El
Salvador and Paraguay, are launching a regional project on 1st
March to combat child trafficking in those countries.

As part of an international forum on the
nexus between policies and social science, IOM's Regional Office in
Buenos Aires is this week hosting a series of workshops in the
cities of Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Montevideo and Rosario on

The Italian cooperative banking system has
decided to support an IOM migration and development programme by
looking at new ways of providing immigrants with banking services
and of reducing the transfer costs of remittances.